Data privacy is a major concern for everybody, and when it comes to protecting confidential files and documents, there is little room for any compromise. Despite the major security enhancements with every new iteration of Window OS (and even intermittent updates), having that extra layer of protection doesn’t hurt. If you’re one of those who have their “personal computer” shared among other members in the house and continuously find their important files messed up (well, most of the time), it’s time to step ahead and conceal them from unintended eyes. How? By using Hide Folders! This small tool is designed to let you protect your files/folders through simple Hide and Unhide operation from within the application. The program itself is password protected, so no one but you can use it. Let’s jump inside and see how it works.

To begin with, fire up the application and you will be introduced to its stylish grey UI. All the application functions can be accessed from its toolbar, which includes Add Folder, Remove, Hide, Unhide, Password, Updates, Help and Close. For hiding your folder(s), make sure you add them first to the hidden folders list by clicking Add Folder button (or by simple drag & drop). Once added, click Hide button to make your folders hidden. The lock icon to the right animates dynamically, representing the current state of folders. Likewise, to unhide any folder, checkmark it from the list and click Unhide.

Simply hiding the folder is not enough, so click Password on the toolbar to set up an application password to keep anyone from unhiding the folders when you’re not looking. Enter New password, Confirm password and click OK.

It should be noted that files/folders hidden through Hide Folders cannot be shown through standard hide/unhide toggle feature of Windows. The application works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Window 7 and Windows 8. Testing was carried out on Windows 7, 64-bit OS edition.